Walking into Trouble Pt. 01

Ethan then turns to James and says, "Thank you for understanding, me James. Would there be a problem if I told her what happened in the meantime?"

"Sadly not yet, in a few days you will be clear to inform her but not yet, though if you want I can give her a quick run down in the meantime so she won't be worried about you, "James told Ethan.

Ethan replied, "I can live with that, as she knows about my father or the bits that I know of him". He had a small smile on his face.

"I'll walk you to your car, then I'll have a quick word with Miss Amy," James told Ethan.

"Thanks," was all Ethan could say as James put all the paperwork back into his folder and began to leave the office.

As they came out of the office Amy ran up to Ethan and kissed him. "Is everything alright, dear?" she asked him.

"Everything is fine, I have been asked to go to a private service for my father and I am flying out tonight!" Ethan explains to Amy hugging her tightly.

"Oh, I thought we had his service already last week?" Amy quizzes James.

"This one is a private one for Ethan only to go to. The service that you refer to was public, Todd asked for 2 services for him," James said.

"I see," was all Amy could say, "I take it you will need the keys to get into our place so you can pack a few days of clothes then?" She goes to her purse and puts out some keys and hands them to Ethan.

"Are you able to give these back to me before you fly out?". She asked Ethan.

He turned to James and he nodded. "I will make sure of it," James said as he walked out of the door with Ethan close behind him. Once they got to the bottom of the steps one of his co-workers and an annoying one yelled out.

"So in trouble with the law, I see then, I hope you have fun at Long Bay jail then," Jimmy yells out.

Ethan just ignores him as he walks out of the warehouse with James in tow. When he got to the car park he was shocked to see two limousines waiting.

"This is my ride James?", he asked as Ethan was in shock at seeing the limousines in the car park.

"Yes it is Ethan, I know this will take a bit of getting used to." To say Ethan was surprised was an understatement.

"Ethan, may I take those keys off your hands, as we have already copied the keys for your apartment ahead of time? Your father even predicted what could happen today with the keys," James said with his hand out to collect the keys.

"Do you have spies watching me or something James?" Ethan asks as he gives the keys to James.

James chuckled at that, "No, it's just Miss Amy is straightforward to read and so are you - up until today that is what I should say. Don't worry, I will go and give them back to her and explain everything that I am allowed to discuss with her".

"Ok then," Ethan says as he gets into the limousine assigned to him.

He watches as Ethan's limousine drives off the car park and onto the main road. "One down, two to go. if I knew Amy was going to give him the keys I would have offered the set we cut earlier to him to avoid this mess," he thought to himself. "Oh well here comes the fun part, I guess. Todd was right when he told me Ethan would be fun to deal with," He muttered to himself as he walked back to the warehouse.

Amy

When Amy got to work today, she thought it was going to be a busy day, though not like this.

Ethan had just left the office with James for a private service. Not ten minutes had passed when the in-house phone line rang.

"Amy, that gentleman is back. He wants to see you," Amy was quiet for a moment, then replied.

"Send him upstairs, I'll see him in a minute," Amy said on the phone then hung up the handset.

When the office door opened the gentleman lawyer stepped through the door.

"Hello, Miss Flowers, may we speak in private?" James asks her.

She turns around and looks at Bill. Bill just shrugged his shoulders as if this had nothing to do with him. So they step into the owner's office and close the door.

"Amy, I'll get straight to the point. Todd was keeping tabs on both you and Ethan for a long time. I know you never met Todd, though he has personally told me he sees you as a very capable lady with a lot of future potential. However he also feels you are somewhat holding Ethan back from his potential as you will find out in the next few days," James explains to Amy.

"What do you mean I will find out in the next few days why can't you tell now?" she yelled at James.

"I'm sorry that is not my place to say, I already said the most I can without breaking the confidentiality agreement that is in place. Oh, and before you ask, here are the keys you gave Ethan earlier back. Copies have been made of the ones he needs for the apartment. I will make sure you get them within the next few days as I either send someone to drop them off here or get them to send to your mailbox to collect later".

"Why all the secrets around Todd and Ethan, can't you at least clue me in on some of them at least?" Amy pleaded to James.

"I'm sorry Miss Flowers I can not, though I will say this much Todd was much bigger than this warehouse business ever will be,"

As James goes to leave the office, he turns around and says. "Don't worry about Ethan, he is in capable hands, and you will hear from him as soon as the private arrangements are over with".

With that, James walks out of the office leaving a bewildered Amy behind to collect her thoughts. She goes back to her desk to pick up where she left off on the daily orders. Bill asks the question of the day.

"So I doubt Ethan is coming back for a while, at least till the end of the week I would take it?" Bill asks.

"At least till the end of the week, possibly longer," Amy replies.

"I see then" was all Bill could say. Then he said, "I'll send Jess an email to let her know what has happened and see where this goes".

"Don't worry about it Bill. I will send her one when I finish with these orders," Amy tells Bill.

Ethan

Ethan was in the limousine now, wondering just how much his life has just turned upside down. He came into work this morning expecting to get ready for an international order to come through his desk, and now he is on his way to the States to attend a private service in honour of his deceased father.

The driver asks, "So where do you want to go first, sir?"

"First to a place that sells chocolates, then to my place to pack my bags. I've got some shopping to do, apparently."

"No worry Sir," the driver said.

They stop at a sweet shop to get some of Ethan's favourite sweets to munch on to calm his nerves. He had a strong sweet tooth which would drive Amy crazy at times. She would tell him all the time to cut back on the chocolates and sweets as he could get diabetes.

After his stop at the sweet shop, he was less stressed out than before. They went to his apartment to pack his bags and to get his passport. On the way out of his apartment, he put the keys that James gave him in the mailbox, so Amy could get them after work when she got home.

After packing his bags for the trip with the help of the driver, they went to the clothes shops on the list that someone named Jane had set up for him.

The first store he walked into was a completely different experience than when he normally went shopping for clothes. Then again, he had never pulled up to a store in a limousine before. He was waited on hand and foot, with a shop assistant walking around the shop carrying his clothes while he looked at more clothes on the racks and picked out the ones he liked.

After finishing at the first store, they went to other stores where he just checked the clothes on his shopping list for the correct size and moved on to the next shop in the order. In total he shopped at five different high-end stores, spending well over 20k in the process, something he would not have done before in his old life.

It was about 2 pm after all the shopping was done and he was sitting at a cafe having lunch with the driver after he talked the driver into having lunch with him, "So do you always drive people like me?" he asked the driver, who was a male of about 30 to 35 years old.

"Yeah, I do though, for some unknown reason, they insisted that when I pick you up today that you had a freshly clean car, are you some big shot or something?" he asks Ethan.

"I normally work in a warehouse building chairs and making dental powders, so I used to be a bit dirty after work, though after today, I doubt that will be the case," Ethan jokes.

"To be honest I don't even know where to start after today," Ethan said.

"Finding out you came into money can be a shock for many, especially if you know the person who gave you that money in the first place," the driver told Ethan.

"It would be an even bigger shock if they hid it from you to start with," Ethan said. "What time do I have to be at the airport if I fly out at 10.30 pm?" he asks the driver.

"All I know, sir, is to drop you off at the VIP terminal of the airport around 9 pm, so you can meet your contact at the airport after that I finish for the day, sir". The driver replied.

"Well I guess I'll find out when I get to the airport then. If you know any good massage places, I'd like to go to one before you take me to the airport".

"That's an easy one, Sir I will take you to one of the places that I often take my customers to." So the driver drove Ethan to one of the massage places in the city to unwind for a few hours.

James

It was around 12.30 pm and today had already been a taxing day for James. First to see Ethan and Amy at the warehouse near the city, and now to see Stacey in the blue mountains on the edge of Sydney. James was at least aware of the fact that after this he was to go and meet up with Ethan at the terminal so all three of them would fly out together to the HQ.

When he got to the blue mountains and drove up to Stacey's cottage, he was shocked to see Stacey waiting outside of her cottage waiting for him with her bags packed already.

"How did she know I was coming, and better yet, she was already packed to go," he thought.

He got out of his limousine with the driver's help, introduced himself to Stacey and shook her hand.

"I know you are surprised to see me waiting though I knew you were coming for a few days now. You need to up your security details within your company systems," Stacey said.

"Did you hack my company's computer system? As that is impossible, do we have the best of the best tech people looking after our systems?" James said.

"Maybe you need better people working for you, as I have been in and out of your company's computer systems for years now. I do this for fun and yes, I know you came from Ethan and Amy's workplace before coming here," Stacey said.

If he was shocked before, he was losing his nerves now. She has been in our computer systems for years. "How much do you know about everything?" James asks Stacey.

"Oh, you mean about Ethan being my older half-brother? About six years now. I met him when he was doing his old job at the club, he is nice enough and I kept tabs on him just as much as Todd did, if not more so. If anything, I quietly helped him get the job you picked him up from earlier."

"How did you do that," James asked.

"That was easy, his partner gave them a reason to put him on a shortlist of people they were looking to hire. I, in turn, chopped that list down to two people and made Ethan stand out with his resume. If you are wondering, my specialty is hacking computers and getting where I want to go with little effect. I always hide my tracks so no one will find out who does what," Stacey told James.

"Are you by chance a white hat hacker that I hear companies hire onto their teams to safeguard their systems?" James asks.

"I can be for the right price, though I can be a black hat hacker as well. It depends on how I feel at the time when jobs come up. Don't worry though, I have been a white hat for Todd quietly for the last ten years now," Stacey told James.

"Funny, Todd never said that about you in the whole time I knew him," James said.

Stacey smiled at that one, "Todd didn't know a lot about me till after I was born even, then he didn't reach out to me till I was ten. I would not be surprised to see that most of his will would be aimed at Ethan, with me playing a supporting role for him"

"You don't know that for sure Todd only had you and Ethan, but there is no one else in the will. I should know, as I have to read it to you both when we all get to his HQ," James explained.

"Well, let's get this show on the road then, and if we have some free time can we get a bite to eat on the way?" Stacey said.

"I guess we can though we have a bit of shopping to go to first, and don't say no, as you will not hear the end of it from our fashion designer Jane if you don't," James told Stacey as he and the driver helped load her bags into the limousine.

Ethan

It was 8.45 pm when his limousine got to the airport. He was shown straight to the VIP lounge, where he was greeted by a lady from the airport asking to check his passport.

"Everything is in order, your jet will be ready around 10.30 pm".

"Thank you," he told her and went to find a seat to have a snooze on before James and Stacey turned up.

Ethan was woken up by people walking into the lounge after what seemed like an hour. As they were making their way in, he saw James and Stacey talking to each other. Ethan was slow to wake up as he was enjoying his nap till now. James approached Ethan, who was lying on the seat he was on.

"How long have you been here, sleepy head?" James teases.

"Not long enough before you guys woke me up," he said with a yawn.

The airport lady came up to both men and told them, "I have been told to inform you that your jet has been delayed due to the pilot running late."

"No worries, I expected that when Harry is our pilot. Do you know how long he will be as we have to leave before midnight or we are stuck here till morning," James said.

James was referring to the curfew that is in effect at Sydney airport for all flights going out of the airport.

"I will go and find out for you and will get back to you on it," the lady from the airport said.

She rushed away to get in contact with her co-workers.

"Bloody Harry, he does this all the time running late knowing we are going to fly out," James yells.

"I take it this happens a lot then, James?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, every time we are in Sydney this happens. I may have to stop using Harry as our pilot for Sydney trips."

Stacey came up to them at this point as she had just come back from having a smoke outside. "Are we flying tonight or tomorrow, guys?" Stacey asked.

"That's up to our pilot if he gets here quickly," James told Stacey.

"Just great, waiting, my favourite thing to do at an airport," Stacey said sarcastically.

"Nice to meet you as well, Stacey," Ethan said to Stacey as she had ignored him earlier.

"Oh my bad, I forgot you were joining us on this jet, Ethan. How have you been since I last saw you?" Stacey asked him.

"I've had better days, though the shock of this day still hasn't hit me yet. And besides, how the hell do you know me so well? I barely know you in return," Ethan replied

"Oh, I'm surprised. I guess I didn't come back to the club scene after that one night of cards," she teased.

"I take it you two have met before then?" James asked both of them.

"Yeah, I used to run card games at pubs and clubs for a while. Stacey turned up one night I was working and joined in. I quit that job about three years ago as the pay was inadequate, and my fiance would get into arguments with my boss on occasion. Due to the dodgy environment that I was working in," Ethan explained to James.

"Oh, you mean that Tonga lady that goes by Mel, do you Ethan?" Stacey inquiry.

"The very same one, Why do you know something about her, Stacey?" Ethan asks her.

"Yeah, about six months after you left her group. Her games came crashing down almost overnight as well. She was charged with money laundering, and she was running events without a licence as well," Stacey laughed.

"I wish I saw her face when the cops came knocking, after all the bullshit I had to deal with when I was running her games," Ethan grinned at the news.

"I see, you had an interesting co-worker at the warehouse you were working at today, Ethan," James remarked.

"You mean Jimmy? Yeah, he is a ratbag and most of the others just barely tolerate his nonsense. He is a hard worker though he loves to run his mouth in the warehouse, driving me and Amy nuts. Sadly there are no grounds to get rid of him otherwise something would have happened by now," Ethan told James.

"In the next few weeks, you can give him the flick yourself if Jimmy is as bad as you claim he is and find a replacement for him," James said to Ethan.

"I may take you up on that offer on that one if I go back there after all this," Ethan replied.

"After you spend a week at HQ, I doubt you would go back as nothing would be the same for you after today," James told Ethan.

"True that, James," Ethan replied.

At about 11.15 pm, Harry finally turns up and introduces himself as their pilot. They follow him onto the jet, and he runs through the standard safety procedures and then goes into the cockpit of the private jet. Once the plane has taken off, Ethan asks, "So where in the States is Todd's HQ, James?" he asked.

James chuckled, "We would need to stop to refuel if we are going anywhere near there at least twice in this small craft. No, we are going to the north coast of Australia to a town called Broome, then we take a boat from there. It is a private island that is in international waters between Australia and Indonesia," After a moment James continued again, "The whole bit about the states is later on. After you have been to HQ for a bit to learn the ropes of the Higgs empire and understand Todd's plan for both of you going forward". James could tell both Ethan and Stacey were shocked at this new information.

James turns to Stacey and grinned, "I guess you can't see everything that goes on in the empire with your hacking skills, Stacey he teases. James continued his explanation, "The private island has only been in our hands for about six months, and as they go it is on the small end of the scale".

Ethan then turns in his seat to face Stacey. "So that's how you know about me then Stacey you have been spying on me this whole time?"

"Not exactly spying though. I have been watching at a distance with permission from Todd as he asks me to keep an eye on you," Stacey said.

"Real funny that he never once told me about you," Ethan replied.

James got up from his seat to make himself a coffee from the machine nearby and with his back to the other two while making his coffee, "All will be revealed within the next few days guys though, Ethan you will have a lot to learn."

"Why me, James, why not both of us?" James looks at Stacey before he replied.

"That was the original plan, till I found out about Miss Stacey's hacking skills so now that in the open it is clear she has a big head start on you. Though I would suggest you don't tell anyone about it when we get to the island as there will be fears from the staff there that you can get into our surveillance system and spy on them".

"Don't worry James, I told you before when it comes to anything to do with the Higgs empire, I am a white hat hacker, though if I see something concerning I will report it to you," Stacey told James.

"Thank you, Stacey, that is reassuring to hear," James tells her.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I need some sleep. It has been a long day, wake me up when we are close."

"Don't worry, Ethan I will," She kisses him on the cheek and gets up to stretch her legs.